The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
| screenplay = Sheldon Turner | story = | based on = | starring = | narrator = John Larroquette | music = Steve Jablonsky | cinematography = Lukas Ettlin | editing = Jonathan Chibnall | studio = | distributor = New Line Cinema | released = | runtime = 91 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $16 million | gross = $51.8 million }} The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is a 2006 American slasher film and a prequel to the 2003 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The sixth installment in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' franchise was directed by Jonathan Liebesman and co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper (co-creators of the original 1974 film). The film went into release in North America on October 6, 2006. The film's story takes place four years before the timeline of the 2003 film. It stars Jordana Brewster, Diora Baird, Taylor Handley, Matt Bomer and R. Lee Ermey. Originally, the film had the subtitle The Origin. New Line had to pay $3.1 million more than expected in order to keep the rights to the franchise after Dimension Films made a large offer to buy it from the original right-holders. The film grossed $51.8 million on a budget of $16 million. Plot In 1939, a woman dies while giving birth in a slaughterhouse, and the manager disposes of the baby by leaving him in a dumpster outside. When young Luda Mae Hewitt finds the child, she takes him back to the Hewitt residence, names him Thomas, and raises him as her own son. In 1969, Thomas works in the slaughterhouse under the same manager who left him in the dumpster. When the plant is shut down by the health department, he refuses to leave until the manager makes him do so. Thomas later returns to murder his manager and finds a chainsaw, which he takes with him. When Sheriff Hoyt attempts to arrest him, Luda Mae's son, Charlie Hewitt kills him and assumes his identity. He then takes his body back home to use for stew meat. Meanwhile, two brothers, Eric and Dean, are driving across the country with their girlfriends, Chrissie and Bailey, to enlist in the Vietnam War. At a diner, they meet a female biker named Alex, who follows them on her motorcycle. Alex soon draws a shotgun and orders the group to pull over. In the ensuing chaos, the car crashes, and Chrissie is thrown into a field out of sight. When Hoyt arrives he kills Alex, and makes them put her body in his car. Hoyt then forces the group in as well, and calls for Uncle Monty to tow the jeep, which Chrissie is hiding in. Hoyt drives them to the Hewitt house where he has Thomas butcher Alex's body. He then holds Eric, Dean, and Bailey captive. When Monty brings the wrecked car to the house, Chrissie runs back to the highway, and flags down Holden, Alex's boyfriend, who follows her back to the house. At the house, Hoyt tortures Dean after finding out that he was going to forgo the Vietnam War draft. When Hoyt leaves, Eric breaks free from his restraints, and gets Dean to safety before sneaking into the house to free Bailey. Bailey escapes in Monty's truck, but Thomas stabs her with a meat hook, and drags her back to the house. When Dean attempts to run, he is caught in a bear trap, and Hoyt knocks Eric unconscious. Meanwhile, Holden and Chrissie arrive at the house, but part ways to search for their friends. While Chrissie finds Dean, Holden takes Hoyt hostage, and orders him to take him to Alex. Hoyt calls out to Thomas for help, and he kills Holden with the chainsaw. Chrissie finds Eric in the basement, but is unable to free him, and hides when Thomas returns. Thomas inspects Eric's face before killing him with the chainsaw. He then skins his face, and wears it as a mask. Chrissie is about to flee when she hears Bailey's screams, and decides to go back and save her. She finds her upstairs, but Hoyt catches her and brings her downstairs for dinner, along with Bailey and an unconscious Dean. Leatherface slits Bailey's throat and tries to take Chrissie to the basement, but she stabs him in the back with a screwdriver, and jumps out of a window. Dean regains consciousness and beats Hoyt before heading off to find Chrissie. Chrissie enters the slaughterhouse, and after noticing that Leatherface has followed her, she grabs a knife and cuts his face, but he overpowers her. Dean intervenes, but Leatherface kills him with the chainsaw. Chrissie escapes, hijacks an abandoned car, and drives off. She sees a state trooper in the distance, but as Chrissie pulls over; Leatherface appears in the backseat and impales her with the chainsaw, causing her to lose control and run over both the trooper, and the man he pulled over. Leatherface then exits the car and walks along the road back towards the Hewitt house. Cast * Jordana Brewster as Chrissie * Taylor Handley as Dean A. Hill * Diora Baird as Bailey * Matt Bomer as Eric Hill * Lee Tergesen as Holden * R. Lee Ermey as Charlie Hewitt Jr. / Sheriff Hoyt * Marietta Marich as Luda Mae Hewitt ** Allison Marich as young Luda Mae * Andrew Bryniarski as Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface * Terrence Evans as "Monty" Hewitt * Kathy Lamkin as Tea Lady Hewitt * Tim De Zarn as Slaughterhouse owner * Cyia Batten as Alex * Lew Temple as Sheriff Winston * John Larroquette as Narrator (uncredited) Release Box office The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was released on October 6, 2006, in 2,820 theaters, debuting at #2 at the box office, grossing $18,508,228 on its first weekend. Its second week saw a 59.6% drop in attendance, grossing only $7,485,290 and coming in at #5 at the box office. During its third week it grossed $3,779,829 and came in at #10 at the box office. The film dropped out of the top ten and into eighteenth place with $1,269,942. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning would fail to regain a top ten spot at the box office for the remainder of its theatrical run, ending with $51,764,406 in total gross. Home media The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was released on DVD by New Line Home Video on January 16, 2007. This release included both theatrical and unrated versions of the film, as well as a double feature with the first film. EIV would release the film in the UK on February 19 that same year as both a two-disk uncut edition, a single-disk theatrical version, and as a part of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre collection. New Line would re-release the film in 2008 and 2009 before releasing the film on Blu-Ray on October 15, 2013. The film had previously been released for the first time on Blu-Ray by Ais on July 6, 2010. Reception On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 12% approval rating based on 83 reviews and an average rating of 3.4/10. The site's consensus states: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning is full of blood and gore, but not enough scares or a coherent story to make for a successful horror film." Metacritic reports a 29 out of 100 rating, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Peter Travers from Rolling Stone awarded the film zero stars, calling the film "putridly written, directed and acted", also criticizing the film's obvious plot turns. Nathan Lee from The New York Times panned the film calling it "an invitation to hard-core sadism". At the 27th Golden Raspberry Awards (2006), the film was nominated for a Worst Prequel or Sequel, but lost to Basic Instinct 2. Cancelled sequel In January 2007, Platinum Dunes executives Bradley Fuller and Andrew Form stated that the company would not be producing the third film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot franchise. References External links * * * * * Category:2006 horror films Category:2000s prequel films Category:2000s slasher films Category:American slasher films Category:English-language films Beginning, The Category:Films set in the 1930s Category:Films set in the 1960s Category:Films set in Texas Category:Films shot in Austin, Texas Category:Prequel films Category:Serial killer films Category:Platinum Dunes films Category:Films scored by Steve Jablonsky Category:Films directed by Jonathan Liebesman Category:Films produced by Michael Bay Category:Films produced by Andrew Form Category:Films produced by Bradley Fuller